Crested gecko eggs-question

[Starforce2]

My crested layed another egg. I know I found the first one way too late. That was a while back. I found another just now laying out in the open. It is dry to the touch/hard and is caved in on the bottom. I assume it's too late for it? She must have layed it earlier today as I didn't see it this morning. Infact I even used a red LED flashlight last night to peer though her body by letting her walk over the light..I saw no evidence of an egg inside her, this thing is pretty good size, I even gently felt the abdomen and there didn't seem to be any lumps. Is there any way to tell that the darn thing is pregnant? I've not even noticed them showing signs of mating or bite marks since the last egg. Not that I even have the equipment to hatch one anyways, but half the battle is knowing when one is going to pop out. Whats the time window between laying and finding the egg before it's too late?

 

[Floof]

Once you find it, really, there's still a chance for it if you pop it in the incubator (or, incubation tub; don't really need an incubator for cresties) immediately. Crestie eggs should be pretty simple to incubate if you can keep the temps in the 70s...

Don't you offer her a lay box? It sounds like she needs one. It'll make laying the eggs less stressful, and reduce the chances of her retaining the eggs or dumping them in the water dish. A tub stuffed with moist sphagnum moss with an entrance hole in the top works fine for this. It's the same recipe for an incubation tub, really, minus the entrance hole.

Just some thoughts. If you haven't already found them, the Repashy (http://www.forums.repashy.com/) and Pangea (http://www.pangeareptile.com/forums/index.php) forums are both fantastic resources for Crested and other Rhacodactylus geckos. Definitely the places to go when you have Crestie questions.

 

[Starforce2]

Well at first I never got an incubator because they didn't seem to be mating. There was bite marks, but by in large they seemed to be ignoring each other. Now, after the eggs are gone, they are sharing the hide log again. The first egg was a single a while ago, this time 2. I weighed her this time, and someone said the time was 30-45 days so I marked the date and I'll be watching for a change, see if I can detect a weight difference. I am surprised the eggs didn't show with the red light I shined through her abdomen a night or 2 before I found the eggs.

I guess I am wondering if the eggs should be hard, like a chicken, or leathery like a turtle? Both eggs were caved in on the bottom as if they had collapsed to I got rid of them figuring they were in there too long. There's no lay box because she didn't appear to be pregnant so I never bothered to create one. I assumed the eggs would be detectable either with a light or by gently feeling her abdomen for unusual lumps. Apparently not, on both.

 

[Floof]

I would highly recommend using a lay box in a malexfemale cohabbing situation, no matter if they seem to be mating, as it's much healthier for the female and gives her that option without you having to be privy to their breeding activity. They will often start digging in the laybox a day or so before laying the eggs, getting used to it and finding the perfect spot to lay their eggs.

I'm not qualified to comment on gestation period and the appearance of eggs or a gravid female, as I've never bred geckos (which is why I referred you to the gecko forums in my last post--so please ask these questions there if you haven't already so you can get thorough, verifiable advice from Crestie "experts"), but I can say it's the general opinion of any one who breeds that you should play it safe and incubate any egg, even if it's "obviously" infertile, in the off chance that you're wrong and the egg is viable. Part of why Cresties are so common these days is because their eggs are so "tough" (as in hard to kill). Even if they appear to be goners, it might only take proper moisture and humidity in a good laybox to kick even the worst-looking eggs back into shape ("dimpling" in eggs is most often a sign of dehydration) and salvage the babies.